Distance Education – Revolutionizing Concepts in Education

(Based on the project ‘Virtual University’)

Amit Tilwani
Computer Sciences Corporation, India.
Saurabh Jain
MCA-IV year, International Institute of Professional Studies, D.A. University, Indore.

amit_tilwani@hotmail.com
jainsabh@hotmail.com
 Abstract
In the last decade, distance education has emerged as a powerful force for change in
higher education, especially in the developed countries and the trend is rapidly spreading
around the globe. The potential scope of this change is suggested by trends in the use of
converging technology which have led to fast growing networks. The current
environment offers institutions an exceptional opportunity for planning that will
facilitate the emergence of a vital educational environment that uses technology to keep
the student's needs in the foreground. This paper highlights the need for distance
education, compares it with the existing educational system and offers solutions to build
an effective distance education system. It also explains the implementation details of
‘Virtual University’, which is a distance education system based on the latest
technologies.

Key terms: Distance Learning, Traditional Education, Converging Technologies,

Internet.
1. Introduction.
‘Distance Education’ is an effectively planned teaching/learning experience that uses a
wide spectrum of technologies to reach learners at a distance and is designed to
encourage learner interaction and provide the satisfaction of learning. The concept
entails designing, developing and maintaining online courses over a fully integrated
virtual campus. This campus comprises of the students residing in various parts of world
and taking courses offered through communication channels like internet. The complete
system creates an environment of a campus consisting of a number of students,
professors and virtual classrooms.

Distance Education is the underlying concept of the ‘Virtual University’, which involves
instructional delivery that does not constrain the student to be physically present in the
same location as the instructor. Historically, distance education unambiguously meant
correspondence study. Today, audio, video, and computer technologies have supplanted
the traditional modes of offering distance education.

Many educators ask if distant students learn as much as students receiving traditional
face-to-face instruction. Research comparing distance education to traditional face-to-
face instruction indicates that teaching and studying at a distance can be as effective as
traditional instruction, when:
1. The method and technologies used are appropriate to the instructional tasks.
2. There is student-to-student interaction.
3. There is timely teacher-to- student feedback.

In ‘Virtual University’, the shortcomings of distant education have been overcome by

offering tools like:
1. Interactive web-interface with help, downloadable tutorials, lecture notes, links to
other reference material etc.
2. Student-faculty interaction through bulletin boards, which provides solutions to
student queries.
3. Computer based test to judge test-taker’s skills.

To understand better the concept of Distance Education, we first try to acquaint

ourselves with the existing educational system and its salient features.

2. Existing University System.

The present education system requires a student having the minimum required
qualification to visit the University for Registration. Once registered, he is required to
attend classroom lectures, and attempt paper-based tests to obtain a degree. All the
transaction between the University and the student are direct.

2.1 What makes the traditional system effective?

The following features of the traditional educational system made it effective as a means
of providing education to the masses.

1. Face-to-Face Interaction with other students: The system enables the students to
directly interact with other students in order to clear their doubts etc. This type of
interaction is beneficial for all the students and it also helps to maintain rapport in a
classroom.

2. On-hand Expert Advice: A student can interact with teachers in order to get their
queries solved. The students learn not only from study material, but also from the vast
experience of the teachers.

3. Personal Attention: The personal attention to all students is a prominent feature of

this approach. They get proper feedback from their teachers and senior students. This
feedback is used to improve on one’s weak areas, to emphasize on important parts of
subjects etc.

4. Immediate Instructor Response: The problems of a student are solved without any
delay. This makes the communication effective in problem solving.

5. Laboratories and Libraries: Existing universities provide laboratories to help the

students attain practical knowledge, and libraries to provide books for reference.
2.2 Drawbacks of the Existing System.
The following are the drawbacks of the existing educational system.

1. Lack of educational centers: Students living in remote areas, where there is no good
university, find it difficult to migrate to the educational centers.

2. Lack of quality-faculty: Availability of quality faculty is quite difficult at all

educational centers and also, it is not feasible for the faculty to visit various
universities to deliver their lectures. Many students are thus, devoid of quality
education.

3. Costly: It is costly for a student, if he migrates to some other city for higher
education. It is costly in terms of money as well as time. This restriction forces many
students to discontinue higher education.

4. Requirements of universities: The student should have the minimum qualification

required by the university to take a particular course.

5. Age Limit: The University specifies certain age limits thereby restricting the
students unable to fulfill the criterion.
 6. Limited Enrollment: A university can provide limited enrollment because of the
restrictions of infrastructure. Also, expansion plans for existing universities prove to
be very expensive.

7. Lack of Flexibility: Universities are bound to follow a rigid course-conducting

pattern (the syllabus and time-table), for all students taking that course. This pattern is
not adaptive i.e. it is not in accord with the caliber and resources of an individual. For
instance, an aspirant from the job-sector may not find enough time to attend regular
classroom lectures.

3. The Solution – Distance Education.

The drawbacks of traditional educational system mentioned above constitute the problem
domain for the educational system. The solution to these problems is Distance
Education, which we discuss here forth.

3.1 What is Distance Education?

Within a context of rapid technological change and shifting market conditions, the
education system is challenged with providing increased educational opportunities
without increased budgets. Many educational institutions are answering this challenge by
developing distance education programs. At its most basic level, distance education
takes place when a teacher and student(s) are separated by physical distance, and
technology, often in concert with face-to-face communication, is used to bridge the
instructional gap. These types of programs can provide adults with a second chance at a
college education, reach those disadvantaged by limited time, distance or physical
disability, and update the knowledge base of workers at their places of employment.

3.2 Emerging Concepts.

The Internet is the world’s largest, most powerful computer network connecting personal
computers, sophisticated mainframes, and high speed supercomputers around the globe.
The WWW and Web browsers have made the Internet a more user-friendly environment.
The ability to integrate graphics, text, and sound into a single tool means that novice
users do not have to struggle with such a steep learning curve. New technologies and
concepts are now evolving to exploit the tremendous power of Internet as a tool for
imparting knowledge. Every organization is trying to adapt a paperless approach in its
dealings.

3.3 How is Distance Education delivered?

1. Voice - Instructional audio tools include the interactive technologies of telephone,
audio conferencing, and short-wave radio. Passive (i.e., one-way) audio tools include
tapes and radio.

2. Video - Instructional video tools include still images such as slides, pre-produced
moving images (e.g., film, videotape), and real-time moving images combined with
audio conferencing (one-way or two-way video with two-way audio).
3. Data - Computers send and receive information electronically. For this reason, the
term "data" is used to describe this broad category of instructional tools. Computer
applications for distance education are varied and include:
• Computer-assisted instruction (CAI) - uses the computer as a self-contained teaching
machine to present individual lessons.
• Computer-managed instruction (CMI) - uses the computer to organize instruction
and track student records and progress. The instruction itself need not be delivered via a
computer, although CAI is often combined with CMI.
• Computer-mediated education (CME) - describes computer applications that
facilitate the delivery of instruction. Examples include electronic mail, fax, real-time
computer conferencing, and World-Wide Web applications.
4. Print - is a foundational element of distance education programs and the basis from
which all other delivery systems have evolved. Various print formats are available
including: textbooks, study guides, workbooks, course syllabi, and case studies.

3.4 How is it made effective?

Distance learning can be made effective in imparting education by incorporating the
following tools in the system. Most of these features are already implemented as a part
of the project ‘Virtual University’.
1. Online Lectures: The faculties should provide the course material for their
respective subjects. The lectures can be in any format - text, web, graphic, audio or
video.
2. Bulletin Boards: The students should be able to ask their queries to the teachers and
the solutions to their queries should be made available on bulletin boards.

3. Chat Sessions: The students should be able to share their knowledge with each
other by participating in online group discussions or classroom chat sessions. It
enables them to discuss their problems albeit not face to face.

4. Simulations: Various simulations should be provided in the courses wherever

required. They serve as an important source of information, where the words can’t
impart the complete information. They are employed as a replacement for the practical
performed in physical laboratories.

5. Comprehensive Web Resources: The interface should provide downloadable

tutorials for students. These downloadable tutorials include the lecture notes and
other study material. These can be in .pdf or .zip format.

6. Reference: The interface should also provide links to various educational web sites,
which can provide further study material on the various topics. The students can use
these references to enhance their knowledge on the subjects.
 7. Online Tests: Regular online tests should be conducted in every course to assess
student’s performance and understanding. The students should be provided a
feedback of correct answers. Three levels of testing can be performed viz: tests after
every lecture, tests after every module and final test.

8. Online Help: The website should provide online help on issues such as how to use
the site, what precautions to take during access of courses and solutions to the possible
technical problems which a student may face.

3.5 How the proposed system solves the problems in the traditional system?

1. Distance Learning: Distance will no longer be a barrier in education. Those living

in remote areas can learn online, without migrating to other cities and bearing the
additional costs.

2. Quality of Faculty: The University lacking quality faculty on a particular subject

can arrange online lectures by suitable faculty from some other university. Singapore
University, for instance, is already implementing a similar e-learning program in
collaboration with MIT-Salon.
3. Cost Effective: E-learning has cut down the heavy costs of migrating to other
educational centers. Establishing a Virtual campus than a physical one is a sensible
solution when we have limited funds.

4. Unlimited Enrollment: Now the universities need not limit the number of
registrations since, it won’t need to increase its infrastructure to accommodate more
students. Expansion plans will be cheaper and much more number of students can be
enrolled as compared to those in traditional universities. This is done in most of the
American Universities to accommodate the growing number of students.

5. Age limits: There will be no age limit for a student taking a course. A student of
any age can take the course.

6. Educational Background: The students’ educational background is no longer a

concern. Any student belonging to any stream can register for courses. The advantage
of this type of system is that it will facilitate the students who are unable to attend
regular class. However, a student may choose too avail some orientation course
before studying a completely new syllabus.

7. Flexible: Students will be able to schedule their syllabus as per their caliber. The
online learning system will judge their level of intellect by means of some tests, and
 accordingly, suggest them their areas of poor performance. These tests will be
adaptive in nature.

8. Self-Informative: The site itself provides all the information required for a new
user. The site also provides information regarding various precautions he/she should
take in order to access various courses.

The Distance Education System is useful not only for the students seeking
specialization in a particular field, but also, those who are studying in some other
university or are in job, but seek specific/additional support, guidance or information
on certain subjects. They can use the interface as a reference user and study as per
their need.

4. Components of ‘Virtual University’.

On the fundamentals of ‘Distance Education Concepts’, the project ‘Virtual University’

has been implemented. Virtual University development comprised of developing the
following major components.

4.1 Interactive web interface.

It’s a platform where on the users can interact with the system – all tools employed to
impart the distance education are accessed via this interface. It not only offers study
material, but also assists distant students in becoming both familiar and comfortable with
the delivery technology and prepares them to resolve the technical problems that will
arise.
The web interface is developed mainly using ‘Hypertext markup language’. ‘Active
Server Pages’ have been used to enable client-server communication. ‘Java script’ is
used to provide client side validation, for instance in validating the registration form
against empty fields or invalid information. Through this platform, the student can
register, learn his selected courses, and appear for the online tests.

a. Registration: All the new users who wish to go for the certification course are required
to register by filling up the registration form online. There are several students who don’t
wish to complete a certification course, but even then, they want to access the vast
resources of the Virtual University. Such students are catered to by offering a section for
‘reference user’. These users are not required to register.
All registered users choose a password and are given a roll no, which they use to login
and start their study-session. They also select the courses they wish to study.

b. Learning: The course material includes online study material, downloadable tutorials
and references to other relevant web pages. The course material can include information
in form of graphs, animation, video or audio among other media. To facilitate the
process of learning, ‘Virtual University ‘provides the feature of ‘Bookmarks’.

Bookmark: As the student learns lessons from ‘Virtual University’, he traverses through
myriads of web pages. At the beginning of a session the user may not remember the
exact page up to which he has already studied. Even if he remembers these details, it is
impossible for him to reach that page directly. To keep track of the chapter, the student
last studied in a particular subject, bookmark facility is provided. Its use is same as that
of a physical bookmark.

As mentioned above, it is impossible for a student to jump directly to any random page
(by entering its address in the address bar, for e.g.). Every user is required to login
properly using his roll no and password. A “session” is maintained for the students, so
that no unauthorized agency can access information. This helps to implement a
minimum level of security. The interface keeps track of the student’s progress various
temporary and permanent variables of the session.

c. Student-Faculty Interaction: The students can ask their queries from the faculty, using
a query interface. When any faculty member logs in and opens his/her query box, the
queries addressed to his/her subjects are displayed. The faculty then answers the query,
which is added to the list of various solutions already displayed on the bulletin board.
The student can access the solution to his query from the bulletin board. Various other
facilities are also provided at both students and faculty interfaces so as to make the
interaction easy and informative. For example, the faculty can save solutions to some
important queries for future use.
d. Testing: Three levels of testing are implemented in ‘Virtual University’. A lecture-
test is provided at the end of every lecture. This is not evaluated and is intended for self-
assessment by the student. A module-test is taken after the completion of a module and
the final-test at the end of the course. Module-tests and final-test are evaluated and they
can be taken only once, though the date of test can be decided by the user as per his
convenience. The test paper is generated at time the student starts the test, from a
database of questions designed by the faculty of that subject.

4.2 Database.

The database consists of the following information.

a. Information about all the registered students and faculties involved in the system.
This include permanent information like roll no, name, address, id etc and variable
information like bookmark values in various subjects, marks obtained etc.

b. The course content.

This includes the online lectures and the test questions supplied by the faculty. The
complete course for a particular subject is divided into various modules, which are again
sub divided into lectures. The test questions are of varying degree of difficulty and it’s
maintained that for every test, questions from each categories are included.

5. Conclusion.
Finally, recognizing the increasing potential for distance education innovations to
migrate toward the institutional mainstream, institutions should review their policies and
procedures and, where needed, broaden them to include distance education delivery.

6. References:

1. Tania H. Gottschalk. Distance education at a glance. http://www.uidaho.edu/evo/

2. Gary E. Miller. Long-Term Trends in Distance Education.
3. Michael J. Marquardt & Greg Kearsley. Technology Based Learning. (American
Society for Training & Development.)
4. Prof. Chris Jesshope. Web based teaching. (Proceedings of the 22nd Australasian
Computer Science Conference 1999).